Whispers of the Silent
by Ochibi and Urufu
Summary: To be a true Ninja, one must be complete and without obstacles. A Ninja who has a disability is uncommon: However, cases of blind ninja are common, especially amongst clans who use Jutsu centred in their eyes. However, a Ninja who cannot hear is hard – but a deaf Hokage is impossible.
1. Genesis

Genesis

~ ҉ ~

A large explosion shattered the tranquil night, awakening everyone in the village of Konoha. Ninja struck into action, grabbing their equipment and Ninja garb before hurrying to fight against the unknown threat. The Ninja poured out of their village, ready to defend their home. Women and children screamed – the civilians didn't understand the threat as much as the shinobi did.

A young man and woman held their newborn son close. He was welcomed to the world when tragedy struck – and, unknown to them now, it would follow him for the rest of his life. His father whispered comforting words to his wife and child – never wanting to leave them. But his duty, for his village, called to him. His final words – "_I love you both_" – and he was gone.

Explosions from the village sounded close to where the mother and child hid. The mother cried, as they came close, and whimpered as they retreated. The earth trembled under the might of the explosions, noise blaring out in every direction.

The woman cried out; an explosion came from just outside their hidey-hole. It caused the roof to partially collapse, for the walls to shudder and the ground to rumble. Noise, of which she had never heard, reverberated of the walls and into their ears. It was too much for the woman to take – her head pounded under the force and her ears rung. And this same instant, she heard her baby wail, in a like she had never heard either. It was full of so much anguish, so much pain –

"Oh baby, what's wrong?" She fretted over the child, her fingers fluttering over the newborn. His physical appearance hadn't changed, except for his face flashing an unnerving red. His screams filled the night, creating even more pain for his mother. The mother winced, checking over her child again.

And then she saw it.

Two small trails of blood, one each seeping from the child's ears.

The mother knew what had happened at this point, but she utterly refused to believe it to be true.

"Oh god, no… no!" She cried, using her fingers to wipe at the blood. It smeared over the child's head, making him scream louder.

The child didn't understand what was happening, the only concept it could understand at this moment was pain. The mother, however, understood everything, and emotions overcame her – pain, fear, worry, anger, betrayal, despise – one and all of them swirling in her chest.

Anger, betrayal and despise at whatever god or being was watching. Pain, fear and worry for whatever would become of her child.

When another particularly close explosion came, the mother curled the child close; hugging him to her chest and burying her face in blond wisps of hair. She had talked over this moment with her husband; she understood that this may be her last moments with the child.

Screams from within the village came close, and she wept harder than she had before. Whatever reason became the child for having to lose his hearing, she was glad for it at this moment – at least he wouldn't have to hear the pain and suffering of his village.

~ ҉ ~

When the chaos stopped, it was only with the sealing of such chaos into the newborn infant. This decision was made by the Hokage of the village; and while he wanted the village to remember the child as a hero for hosting the chaos, his wishes were tossed to the side. The infant was destined to be hated and alone – such was his fate.

The child's parents had died in the attack, never even getting a proper chance to wish their child farewell. He was whisked away, and the chaos was imbedded into the child's stomach. A black tattooed seal was the only reminder of the chaos; of his parents. He would not even begin to understand what the seal meant – for everyone present had left without a word. He was left to cry, deep sorrowful cries, as the candles around him flickered.

At the age of one, the child understood he was alone. There were many other children who had what he didn't – families. Two parents, holding the child by their hands, walking and smiling. The child's hands grasped at air; for how he wished so hard for parents he never knew, yet had no one to grasp onto. Thick warm tears rolled down the infant's cheeks. While the child was bright and happy, he often succumbed to a loneliness he didn't understand. His shock of blond hair was in bright spikes around his hear; eyes as blue as the sky above him. His mouth, small and peach coloured, never opened. His hands never reached. His ears never heard.

For him, his world was silence. People would walk past, never saying anything. Animals, the vegetation around him, never made a sound. The child would often clap, or bang things, making a ruckus – just with a hope of hearing _something_. But this hope always crashed and burned. He was so alone. No one offered to help, no one offered a hand.

The villagers were not particularly cruel; no one ever laid a hand at him. Just their lack of humanity was what burned deep into the child's soul. Doing nothing at all can be crueller than getting beaten. At least that was a sick, twisted way of being acknowledged.

When he was three, he began to hear the voice. It was different to his mind's voice – rough, deep and distinctive. It was a snarl, almost animalistic. The voice would whisper to him, using words he couldn't fathom. The child could repeat these words, both aloud and in his mind, and the voice would praise him in turn – or what the child assumed was praise. The way the voice spoke, left warmth in the child.

By the time he was six, the voice had been a constant form of solidity. It kept the child grounded. Now, if the child knew any better, he would know that hearing voices was definitely not a good thing. But this voice _was_ good. It taught him, something others never bothered to do. It taught him to read – the child going to stores and places where there were books with printed words. It taught him to read lips – which often came in handy when people, rarely, wanted to speak with him. It taught him to speak - although the child refused to practice this much. After all, the child would not understand what his own voice would sound like – was he pronouncing the words right? The only voices he had heard were his own, in his mind, and the other's. He'd never know if he was correct or wrong in his pronunciation. This was not much to go on. Instead, the voice taught him to use his hands. Some were similar to what he saw Ninja use, and others were completely befuddling.

However, his sudden awareness of speech and other's words caught the attention of people who were high in power in the village. The child was visited by a man in a long white coat, with red patterns woven in the hem. He wore a largely brimmed hat, which was similar in appearance. The man was old, although not old enough for it to be a worry.

He seemed to understand that the child was learning, so when he spoke, he did it so that his words were slow and deliberate.

"Hello Naruto. Do you know who I am?"

'_Hokage_,' Naruto signed. He voiced the word also, but winced when the Hokage looked at him with confusion. Was it his voice? He said it _wrong_, didn't he?

'_Yes, I am. Tell me, who taught you to speak like this?_' The Hokage raised his hands, displaying them in easy sight for the child. The child, Naruto, paused, before replying.

'_The voice._'

The Hokage jerked; eyes wide and face frustrated. The Hokage stood and motioned to his side, before a man clad in black and a white mask appeared at his side. The Hokage turned to face the ANBU, speaking to him softly. Naruto could read the man's lips, but only understood a few words.

Seal…child…teaching…seal…breaking…

…What?

The voice in his head growled, feeling outraged. The voice spoke to him, whispering doubts and angers. The child tensed at his language; he turned to the Hokage:

"He says leave me alone."

The Hokage was astounded, looking to the boy. His face was beet red, looking flustered and frustrated at the same time.

"He?"

"The voice; he doesn't like you."

The Hokage sighed, and looked conflicted. He spoke quickly to the ANBU – much too quickly for Naruto to read – and suddenly Naruto was gripped from behind. His head twisted to see another ANBU behind him, constraining his arms. The Hokage walked forward, hand raised. Naruto panicked; the voice screaming.

The Hokage lifted Naruto's shirt, viewing the seal. He looked upset, and his hand landed in the direct centre of the swirl. The other hand lifted to place a palm on Naruto's forehead, the fingers wrapping around his small head.

All Naruto felt was… white. A white light flooded his mind's eye, blurring out the voice and any memory of it. Naruto still remembered his teachings; how to read lips, understanding the language and how to sign, but he just didn't know how he came to learn it. He felt smothered, used and…alone. He hadn't felt alone for a very long time.

When the Hokage spoke to him afterwards, mentioning a voice…

Naruto had no idea what he was talking about.

~ ҉ ~


	2. Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!

**Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!**

~ ҉ ~

All of the villagers knew exactly when Naruto got into mischief. Normally, it wasn't even the hysterical screaming of "Naruto! Get your ass back here!" that gave it away. Sometimes it was as obvious as multi-coloured smoke bombs going off, or even to the extremes of painting the village in fantastical colours. They all just knew it was Naruto, somehow.

However, this time 'round, Naruto's mischief shocked and outraged the village. How he managed to do something like this, and WHY was beyond them.

He had defiled the Hokage monument.

He was now currently running down one of the village streets, a can of yellow paint in hand. He was being chased by two Ninja, who were screaming at him.

"Naruto! Why'd you do such a thing!"

"You're really 'gonna get it this time!"

And of course, Naruto couldn't hear one word of this. He just ran laughing. He had to throw his head back every few seconds just to check if they were still chasing him!

In a single bound, Naruto leapt up to the roofs of various buildings, the two shinobi right behind him. He was laughing, truly delighted that he had caused such a ruckus. Paint spilt constantly as Naruto jumped, sloshing civilian homes and even landing on a stray dog in the street.

'_You know your problem? You can't do the things I do!_' Naruto spun around, running backwards as he signed to the shinobi following him. "_Only I can do this. I'm better than all of you!"_

~ ҉ ~

"There's a problem!"

"Hokage-sama!"

The Hokage was in his office, dressed rather casually. He was smoking a pipe, painting black ink onto a white canvas.

"What is it now?" He grumbled, finishing a stroke and turning his head to the two people who now ungracefully entered his office. Each of them was out of breath, one even splattered with paint. "Did Naruto do something again?"

One of the people was a civilian – the one covered in paint. "Yes. He climbed onto the Hokage monument…

The other – a shinobi – "And he vandalized them!"

The Hokage heaved a sigh, glancing at his painting and then back to the men. Smoke from his pipe wafted around him. _'Naruto…_'

~ ҉ ~

The chase was still ongoing; the two shinobi trailed after Naruto quite diligently. Naruto leapt to the ground and past a fence. The two shinobi ran straight past.

"WAIT!"

And of course, neither shinobi had noticed Naruto skilfully hidden on the fence. He had pulled a disguise from seemingly nowhere, and was blended into the fence like a chameleon would a painted background.

He dropped the disguise, stepped out from the fence and watched the shinobi run around aimlessly – having discovered that Naruto was no longer ahead of them.

He lifted a hand to his blond head, laughing.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, gripping tight. Shouting wouldn't grab Naruto's attention, now would it?

Naruto stiffened and jumped away from the contact, viewing a shinobi he knew all too well. Naruto had managed to fall flat on his ass, facing the person who had managed to grab his focus. He looked up from the ground, an annoyed expression on his face.

'_How did you get here, Iruka-sensei?_' He questioned, hands moving fluidly.

"The real question here, is what are you doing here when you should be in class now?" Iruka scolded, pointing his finger and scowling down at the young blond. Iruka was dressed in standard Konoha shinobi garb, his brown hair pulled into his typical pony-tail.

And, of course, he then proceeded to drag Naruto kicking and screaming back to the academy.

~ ҉ ~

This was Naruto's most hated place. If it wasn't bad enough that he actually had to go to the damn place every day, it was the kids in it that bothered him most. All these kids either came from amazing families, or there was absolutely nothing wrong with them. None of the kids here had any disabilities like Naruto, and this tormented him.

The kids were particularly cruel, teasing him by speaking too quickly, or tying his hands up so he would be forced to speak through his mouth – and this would lead them to more teasing. His voice itself was normal but his pronunciation was very sloppy. He somehow knew how to pronounce the words, but it still felt alien when he couldn't hear himself say it.

But the teasing was bearable at most. He expected that other kids in other academies must get bullied like him, right?

And unfortunately, Iruka-sensei was lining Naruto up for more teasing. He had made Naruto sit at the front of the class, the students snickering behind their mouths.

"You failed the last graduation test, and the one before that. This is no time to be goofing off, baka." Iruka scolded. While Naruto knew that Iruka was trying to teach him to focus more, it still hurt to say it aloud for the class to hear.

Naruto's arms were currently tied up by a length of rope – he couldn't actually reply, even if he wanted to. Instead, he turned his head away.

This irked Iruka to no end. His eyes narrowed, and his face was a little red. He turned to the class.

"That's it! We're going to have a test on 'Henge'! Even those who have passed will have to take it!"

"Whaaat!?" The class screeched. Almost ninety percent of the class complained, at least eight percent were booing, and the other two percent just shrugged. And all of them, were glaring at Naruto.

Of course, since Naruto couldn't see Iruka speak, he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. Either way, he was untied and forced to stand in line with the rest of the class.

After seeing a few students before him disappear and re-appear as the teacher, Naruto understood the task – even if he didn't like it.

"Sakura Haruno?" Iruka called. A girl with bright pink hair, a red hairband ribbon and a red dress stood before their teacher. Her hands made the sign, her posture tense.

"Here I go… _Henge_!" Poof, and she looked just like their teacher.

Iruka nodded in approval, writing something on a slip of paper he had on a clipboard. "Ok!"

Sakura changed back with a cloud of smoke, face blushed slightly from the praise. "I did it! Did you see that, Sasuke?" She asked, turning back to the line-up.

"Next, Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura was made to sit back in her seat, face puffed out at being sent away from the next student in line.

He wore plain pants and a dark blue shirt emblazed with his clan's symbol on the back – a red and white fan. His facial expression was stoic, his hair styled to resemble a cockatoos ass – as Naruto often reminded him.

Sasuke just walked up, preformed the Henge, and then walked off to his seat.

Iruka was a little startled at the abruptness, but he nodded and called up the next person.

"Next, Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto scowled, hands on hips, at his teacher. The two people standing near him grumbled, giving Naruto a scathing look.

"What a pain."

"It's all your fault."

The words fell on deaf ears – mind the pun – and Naruto walked forward to his teacher.

"_Henge_!" Naruto called, wisps of chakra swirling around him. His clothes whipped about from the force, his hair standing on edge. A poof of smoke –

And Iruka fell to the floor, blood gushing from his nose.

Standing in clouds of smoke, now stood a beautiful, curvy blond woman; her hair in two long pony-tails and completely naked.

The only resemblance she held to the child who transformed into her, was the hair colour, eye colour and the three whisker scars on each cheek.

Screaming in laughter, the henge dissolved, leaving Naruto.

In the midst of his laughter, Naruto couldn't help but voice his opinion aloud, as opposed to his usual sign. "How was that? I call it the 'Sexy Jutsu!'"

Iruka sat up, infuriated. "Baka! Don't go making stupid Jutsu!"

Naruto felt strange. Normally this wouldn't bother him. But… he actually created that Jutsu. All on his own. Even if it was perverted and weird… he still made it. Doesn't that credit for something? No one else in the class could make their own Jutsu, but he could! He was not an idiot!

Iruka's words hurt more than he would let on. He was probably just over reacting, but he wished people would stop treating him like an idiot.

~ ҉ ~

That afternoon, Naruto was forced to clean up his mess at the Hokage monument. He scrubbed at the paint, and swore when the paint only smeared and made a bigger mess. Iruka was supervising, a disappointed look on his face. Iruka just couldn't believe that Naruto had done such a thing.

"I won't let you go home unless you clean all that up!" Iruka warned when Naruto looked up at him. Naruto lowered his head, dropping the paint covered rag into a nearby bucket of water. His face barely had emotion when he responded.

"I don't care… it's not like there's anyone waiting for me."

Iruka cringed, a hopeless feeling of regret filling him. That wasn't probably the wisest thing he could have said. The look on Naruto's face hurt most of all. Blank, uncaring…

Iruka was also shocked that Naruto had chosen to speak aloud. He usually didn't do that unless he was really happy – like in class earlier – or when he was entirely frustrated, such as when he was retaliating against a classmates taunts. And when in fear; which Iruka was unfortunate to witness.

Naruto just kept on scrubbing the faces.

Iruka grabbed a small rock from atop the monument, and skilfully dropped it onto Naruto's head. His student looked up at him, half rubbing his head from where the rock hit him. He had a scathing look on his face, but knew Iruka only did it to get his attention. It didn't really hurt, anyway.

'W_hat?_' he signed, dropping the rag in the bucket.

"What I mean is… If you clean up all that mess, I'll buy you ramen tonight." Iruka said, face bent to Naruto so he could read, but an innocent expression was plastered on his face. One finger was bent over his nose to scratch lightly at the scar there, but when he was Naruto's expression, his hand fell away and he smiled.

Naruto looked over-joyed.

"R-really? _Yes_! I'll be finished in no time!" he signed and spoke, absolutely happy that Iruka would treat him. Sometimes it was the little things like that, that would make Naruto immensely happy. With a new sense of determination, Naruto kept scrubbing the faces. When he was almost finished, Iruka jumped down and helped him scrub at the remaining paint.

~ ҉ ~

The stars were large and bright by the time the two entered Ichiraku's. They were the only two customers, yet noise from outside entered easily into the stall. The two sat listening to songs sung by drunken shinobi that were dancing in the street.

At this stage, Naruto had only begun his first bowl of ramen. Iruka sat on his left, while his goggles lay on the empty counter to his right. Naruto had a look akin to a smug fox as he inhaled his first mouthful of ramen. His attention was drawn when Iruka waved in front of his face, his face curious yet disappointed. The look haunted Naruto – he didn't want to disappoint Iruka – but he tried to look as though it didn't affect him in the least.

"Why did you vandalize those faces? You know who the Hokages were, don't you?"

''_Course I do!_' Naruto signed, noodles still hanging from his mouth. Using his lips and teeth, he was able to pull the rest of the noodles in, while he spoke with his hands. When that was done, he lifted the bowl to drink the broth in the bottom of the bowl. '_I know they earned the title of Hokage, because they were the best shinobi of their time, right?'_

Naruto looked thoughtful, his head tilting backwards as he thought.

'E_specially the Fourth Hokage; he was a hero. He saved us from the Kyuubi._' Naruto paused; there was something about that name… he was pulled from this thoughts as Iruka placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto looked over.

"Then why did you do that?"

'_Because I will become Hokage. I'll be the greatest Hokage of all time!_' Naruto looked determined, eyes sparkling with mirth. '_So that everyone will finally learn to accept me! I won't let this…_' he motioned to his ears; eyes looking a tad angry, '_get in my way._'

Iruka was a little stunned at the proclamation, although he had to give Naruto some credit. Despite everything he's been through, he was willing to do what he could to become someone that people could look up to. And he wouldn't give in to a disability that everyone mocks him for. Although, Iruka would be lying if he said that it didn't worry him endlessly.

"Sensei, I have a favour to ask." Naruto asked, pulling Iruka from his thoughts; the voice he rarely heard derailing the train.

"Oh yeah sure, you want another bowl?"

"Mm… no. Can I borrow your headband?" Naruto asked, hands coming up to beg. Iruka smiled.

"What, this?" His hand came up to grip at the metal plate, shifting it against his forehead. "Nah, these are only worn by those who graduate from the academy. You will… tomorrow."

'_You're so mean!"_ Naruto pouted, face looking sullenly into his bowl, hands forming his words.

"Haha, so that's why you took off your goggles!"

'_I want another bowl!'_

~ ҉ ~

"It's now time for the graduation test!" Iruka announced the following day, standing in front of his students at the academy. Almost everyone looked tense, excited and worried all at the same time. A few kids even had their heads buried between their hands. "When your name is called, you can head into the next room, where the test will take place. The test will be on… the 'Bunshin no Jutsu'."

Everyone flinched when a loud crack echoed through the room; heads turned to see Naruto's face deeply planted within his desk. A small moan could be heard from the hole now there. Of all the Jutsu they had learnt that year, the Bunshin Justu was absolutely Naruto's worst.

It was at least half an hour before Naruto was finally called. He entered a room, where Iruka was sitting, along with Mizuki-sensei. Several Leaf Village headbands were on the desk; Naruto eyed them hungrily.

Naruto took in a deep breath, moving to stand in the correct stance. His feet placed evenly with his shoulders, hands in the correct sign. At once, he could feel his chakra reacting, tremendous amounts of chakra swirling around his body. Dust flew up from the floor boards, and his clothes and hair were ruffled from the force. _"I can do this!"_ Naruto thought, feeling his chakra respond and with a snap, he felt his chakra mould into a clone.

There was a puff of smoke as the clone came to life, and all heads turned to where the clone stood – err… where it was supposed to stand. With a confused look from all of them, they dropped their heads simultaneously to the floor. There lay Naruto's clone, completely washed out and deathly looking.

A hand flew up to cover Naruto's mouth, his face looking petrified and horrified at the same time – which was actually a remarkably funny thing to see.

Iruka held a similar expression on his face, albeit he carried more dissapointment than anything.

"Disqualified!"

And there, all of Naruto's hopes of passing and becoming a shinobi crashed and died. He really had no chance. He took a step back, eyes brimming with tears.

Once he said the words, Iruka truly felt regretful. He hadn't really expected that kind of reaction, but then again, he knew how much Naruto really wanted this.

Mizuki looked over to him, brushing a few white strands of hair from his face.

"Iruka, his physical coordination and stamina are excellent. And as horrible as it looks, it's still something. Couldn't he pass with that?"

Naruto brightened instantly, his face looking hopeful.

"Mizuki… the other students created at least three clones… Naruto only made one." Iruka said, motioning to the student and his… clone. Should it really be called that? "And it's useless. I can't give him a passing mark."

Naruto's face instantly blanked once he read his teacher, eyes narrowing. He cocked his head, which cracked a vertebra in his neck, and he left the room – his clone poofing out of existence.

~ ҉ ~

Naruto had never felt this miserable. All the students in his class stood with their families, headbands secured across their heads. He couldn't hear the joyful laughter, the happy praise or the tearful congratulations. He could only see the visible happiness on every person's face.

He sat alone, underneath the shade of a large tree. He was sitting sideways on a swing, who creaked every time he moved. There was a nagging feeling in his chest, that there should have been someone here; to tell him it was okay, he could try again next time. But there was nothing; there was no one.

Of course, everyone at the graduation knew where Naruto was; how he felt. But they just wanted to be happy with their own families – there was no room for an outsider in their happiness. He caught the eye of two girls, who were glaring at him from across the academy grounds. He could make out a few words that they spoke to each other.

"…That boy…. only one… failed…"

"…Imagine….. if he… ninja…"

"…Isn't… actually…"

"…Hey!… not….supposed…..talk…"

Naruto fiddled with his goggles, placing them securely on his forehead. They were previously sitting in the dirt beneath him – he had removed them earlier for a headband… but, well…

Naruto caught sight of the edge of a shoe, and looked up to see Mizuki smiling down at him. Neither said anything; they just watched each other.

~ ҉ ~

From across the grounds, stood Iruka and the Hokage. The Hokage was there to congratulate all those who passed and were to enter the shinobi world.

"Iruka. We have to talk later."

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the swing that Naruto was sitting in became empty, swinging from the force of being left quickly. It creaked and shuddered as it came to a stop.

"Yes, sir."

~ ҉ ~

The sun was beginning to set, calling for an end to the day; a remarkably stupid day, at that. Naruto sat next to Mizuki atop a roof ledge, watching as the sun made its decent.

'_Iruka isn't trying to be mean to you_.' Mizuki signed to Naruto. Neither spoke as a way for privacy, but also that Naruto didn't have to crane his neck to read Mizuki. He could just look across and see the signs that his teacher made.

'_Then why only me?_' Naruto signed, his face falling and posture slouching. He was truly unhappy.

'_Iruka wants you to be strong, from the bottom of his heart. He just worries about you sometimes. He wasn't sure if you'd really be able to handle it in the real world, what with you being deaf.'_ Mizuki signed, face betraying a small smirk; which Naruto did not catch.

'_But I really wanted to graduate… it was my dream – and he knew that…_' Naruto hiccupped, his emotions slipping from his control. He was devastated; his teacher, someone he looked up to, not believing in him? He couldn't stand it.

Mizuki laughed, hands creating complete nonsense, and Naruto looked up from his pity-party.

'_I guess I have no choice. I'll let you in on a big secret…_'

~ ҉ ~

The moon glowed against the abstract darkness of the night. Iruka watched the moon interact with the night sky from his room, his mind wandering to the conversation he had had with the Hokage after the graduation ceremony.

"_Iruka?"_

"_Yes, Hokage-sama?"_

"_I know how you feel. But… Naruto also grew up without knowing the love of his parents… like you. Instead, he grew up with the knowledge that there was something with him, which he treated like family. It was not family – it was a beast with only darkness in its heart. We had to remove it, for his own good. We had no idea just what it had been teaching him; if it was going to use him for its own evil purposes -" _

"IRUKA!"

Iruka jumped off his bed, immediately withdrawn from his memory. He ran to his door, where someone was currently pounding, and opened it to reveal Mizuki.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, panicked at the expression on Mizuki's face.

"We need to go to the Hokage, immediately!" Mizuki panted; his whole body screaming urgency. "Naruto…. Naruto stole the Scroll of Sealing!"

Iruka wanted to fall over, but he refused to allow himself to do so. What…why…. How could Naruto do this? _Why_ would he do this?

~ ҉ ~

"Lord Hokage! We can't forgive him!"

"The scroll is dangerous! The First Hokage was the one who sealed it!"

"Who knows what will happen if it's taken out of the village?!"

The Hokage sighed, smoke pouring out from his pipe as he looked at the shinobi assembled before him. "Bring Naruto here at once!"

With a single gesture, each shinobi sprung off with a "Yes sir!"

The Hokage looked down, eyes worried. "Naruto… I hope you're okay."

~ ҉ ~

Iruka jumped from roof to roof, sweat beading on his face and his breath coming in pants. He looked _everywhere_! Where the hell was he?

~ ҉ ~

Mizuki ran down a street, face determined and frozen in a devious smirk. _"I will tell everyone in the village about this and eliminate Naruto… Then the Scroll of Sealing will be mine!"_

~ ҉ ~

Deep within the surrounding forest, Naruto sat in the dirt and soil as he looked at a really big scroll. He grabbed the scroll from where Mizuki told him, and escaped to the forest for some private training. The scroll was large and apparently important, because it 'had everything he would need to graduate'.

He was feeling incredibly enthusiastic about the whole thing, until he realised what the first jutsu was going to be.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"

Why does everything hate him? _WHY_ does he have to do _THIS_ Jutsu? He just started, and the beginning Jutsu is the type he isn't good at?

Regardless of this, he spent as long as he could practicing and trying to master this first Jutsu. He was entirely exhausted once he finished; he sat on the ground panting, hunched over. Naruto looked up, when he saw a faint shadow pass into his line of vision.

Iruka stood hunched over, hands on his thighs and his face sweaty and comically annoyed.

"Hey you, Naruto!"

Naruto laughed sheepishly, reaching a hand behind his head and scratching at an itch. He stood when Iruka did, who was now brandishing a very confused expression on his face.

'_You found me…_' He signed, smiling. '_And I've only learned one Jutsu._'

Iruka paused; just couldn't believe it. He'd been practicing Jutsu this whole time?

"Hey! Listen! I'm going to show you this amazing Jutsu!" Naruto was just so damn happy… "And you'll let me graduate! Isn't it true that I can graduate if I can do one of the Jutsu in this scroll?" He was speaking aloud… wait, what?

"Hold up, _who_ told you that?"

Naruto didn't seem fazed, he just happily threw his arms out, eager to show Iruka just how much he could do. Iruka would be impressed and he could graduate, right?

"Mizuki-sensei. He told me about the scroll, about this place…"

If Naruto could hear, he would have heard the immediate threat behind Iruka. But thankfully, Iruka's hearing was up to par, and he spun around to see a dozen kunai coming right for them. He pushed Naruto in the chest, pushing him aside. The kunai made impact with the shinobi's body, sending him flying back. His body smacked into a cabin behind him, the kunai pierced through clothes and some imbedded into his own flesh.

"I'm impressed you found this place, Iruka."

Iruka looked up, seeing Mizuki standing atop a tall tree. "I see now… how it is.

Naruto had looked up after he had been shoved, also spying Mizuki in the tree. He was thoroughly confused as to why Mizuki attacked Iruka, but a sense of betrayal coursed hotly through his veins.

"Naruto, give me that scroll."

Mizuki was too high up to get a proper idea of what he said, but Naruto caught the jist of it.

"What's…. going on here?" Naruto stuttered, his voice quite coarse from so much use (his little happy-rant before was more than what he usually spoke, seeing as he mostly signed).

Iruka pulled the kunai from his body, crying out when he pulled on a particularly deep kunai. His breathing was laboured, and blood seeped from the wounds; even a trickle crept from his mouth.

"Naruto!" He ground out, making sure he had the blonds attention, "Never give him that scroll! It's dangerous; it contains forbidden jutsu. That's why it was sealed. Mizuki was _using you_ so that he could get it himself."

Naruto scrambled to his feet, his face outraged.

"Naruto... Iruka is only afraid of you holding that scroll!"

Naruto's face pulled a 180; going from outraged to shocked. Why would Iruka…

"What are you saying, Mizuki!? Naruto, he's just trying to trick you!"

Mizuki laughed, slapping a hand on the tree beside him. His face was feral. "You know what? To know you can _trust_ me," he sneered the word, "I'll tell you the truth."

"Mizuki! Don't you dare!"

Mizuki didn't seem fazed about Iruka's outburst, he was solely focused on the child.

"After an incident about 12 years ago, there was a rule made. It's a rule that everyone knows… except you."

"Why… why would everyone know except me?" Naruto stuttered. He wanted to sign and not speak, but his hands were shaking terribly by his sides – he wouldn't be able to form the words, even if he wanted to.

"Mizuki! Stop!" Iruka shouted; eyes scrunched shut at the strength of his words. Why would Mizuki do this?"

Mizuki's face twisted, become dark with shadows covering his face. "The rule forbids anyone in the village from revealing that you are actually the Kyuubi!"

Naruto's face turned white, eyes going so wide Iruka was afraid they'd pop out of their sockets. His mouth was frozen open, sweat droplets sliding down his skin. He knew exactly what this beast was – they had learnt about it in school, and he even caught a few whispers about it in the village.

"YOU are the demon, who killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village!"

"MIZUKI_! STOP!"_ Iruka screamed, veins pulsing and body shaking with outrage. How _DARE_ Mizuki do this? It was _never _Naruto's fault!

Naruto was just frozen on the spot, reeling from the information and taking more of what evil words spilt from his teacher's mouth.

"Everyone had been lying to you ever since. Didn't you find it strange? Why everyone hated you so much? Did you really just believe that your stupid disability was what made people hate you? It helped, but it wasn't the original cause. Just something to laugh at you with," Mizuki sneered.

"No! No! No! No! NO!" Naruto cried out, face scrunched up, tears pouring down his scarred cheeks. His body was crouched over and tense, arms up against his ears as though they caused him great pain. Fluxes of chakra billowed around him, tense and fluid, cracking with uncontrolled power. He was absolutely terrified. He hadn't physically heard words, but they caused him just as much pain. His body was tearing apart from his heart; the words ricocheting against the confines.

"Nobody accepts you. That's why Iruka hates you so much!"

Naruto wasn't listening, as his eyes were still closed and hands over his unhearing ears. Yet Iruka felt the pain of the statement in his own heart. He bent over, reliving the memory of the Hokage speaking to him.

"_Everyone avoids him like the plague after what happened. He wants acknowledgement over everything else; along with his desire to hear, he misbehaves for a sense of acknowledgement. If he can't receive attention through love and affection, he seeks it in the form of ridicule. It causes him great pain, but… he believes even just people showing him attention is worth it. He's a tough kid, to be able to handle all that punishment and pain."_

Iruka jumped from the train of thought almost instantly as Mizuki spoke. He wielded a very large shuriken, which spun dangerously around his hand.

"Die, Naruto!"

And the child hadn't heard the threat at all. He had no way of knowing that the shurkien now spun towards him, getting closer every second. It was things like this that caused Iruka to fear for Naruto – that his disability would be the death of him.

It's what caused Iruka to jump forward, pushing Naruto firmly to the ground, pinning him, as the Shuriken got ever closer. Naruto looked up from the impact, face openly surprised and tear covered, as he saw Iruka crouching over him. The sight of blood slipping from his teachers mouth shocked him, but not so much as the pained look on his teachers face.

Iruka gasped, little splatters of blood landing on Naruto's face. The large shuriken was buried rather deeply; it had sliced open muscle and fat, cutting some veins in half. The pain was excruciating.

"Wh…why?" Naruto managed, still trying to overcome the shock. Iruka's face was hooded by shadows, and Naruto had no idea why Iruka did what he had.

"Because you and I are the same. After my parents died, nobody paid me attention, or was there when I needed the support. I was so alone, so very alone. I would end up going out of my way to stuff up and misbehave, like you, for any form of attention. I wasn't a good student in school. I acted like a fool… because I wanted people to notice me. Getting high grades and doing well in school gave me no acknowledgement, but doing stupid things? All the attention I wanted. It was so _hard_…!"

Tears poured down Iruka's face. His words were slow, pained and horribly sad. Naruto read them carefully, feeling his heart beat frantically at the acknowledgement that there was someone out there like him. "You felt so lonely…right? And you suffered inside, right? I'm sorry, Naruto… If I had've been more responsible, maybe you wouldn't have suffered so much. I failed you, Naruto… I'm _so sorry."_

"Don't make me laugh!" Mizuki cried, his body wrecked with laughter. Iruka has always hated you, ever since you kill his parents! He's just saying all that to get the Scroll of Sealing back!" Mizuki taunted, his face alight with glee at the pain he read off their faces.

Naruto hadn't heard a word of what Mizuki had said. Instead, he watched slowly as the tears traced their way across his teachers face; the way they fell from his eyes, down his cheeks and down to his chin before they fell to the ground. His tears were the same as his. Naruto turned his head from Iruka, scrambling out from underneath.

Iruka balanced himself, painfully, onto one arm, reaching for the child that was now running away. "Naruto! _STOP! WAIT!"_ Iruka cried out, watching his student disappear between the trees.

~ ҉ ~

Mizuki dropped from the tree, body relaxed and unworried. He had not fear or worry that Iruka would do anything. His body was frozen to the ground, pinned under its own tense fear of the blade poking out from his back.

"He is not the type of kid who easily changes his mind, you know. He will take revenge against our village using that scroll." Mizuki said, almost bored. He felt nothing when it came to the village, which didn't really faze him. As long as he got the scroll, he cared for nothing else.

"Did you see his eyes? The same as a demon's, Ha!"

Iruka reached back, pulling the giant shuriken from his back. He fell to the floor, sitting up gingerly against the pain. Using what strength he could muster, he spun, throwing the large shuriken back to its previous wielder. Mizuki simply sidestepped the shuriken, not caring as it whizzed off into the trees. He had several others tied to his back, what is one lost shuriken to matter?

"Naruto isn't like that at all!"

"All I want is to kill Naruto and get the scroll." Mizuki claimed, watching his colleague fall to one knee. "I'll come for you, later." With a pointed look, Mizuki jumped away with incredible speed.

"I-I won't let you…!"

Iruka followed.

~ ҉ ~

Back in the village, dressed in his formal Hokage uniform, the Third Hokage watched the event unfold through a crystal ball. Later he would wonder why he ever used it, seeing as this was pretty much the only time he actually used the damned thing, but that's beside the point. He was astounded to see Mizuki act in such a fashion, his eyes narrowing at what he spoke and what he did. The Hokage felt a twinge of guilt at hiding such a big deal from Naruto's life, but he did what he did to protect him. Even before he truly understood the situation.

His heart felt heavy as he watched Naruto jump from tree branch to tree branch. He could see the pain written on his face, and the tears streaming down scarred cheeks. He knew that Naruto felt worse now than he ever had. The thought of Naruto unleashing the hidden power due to his emotional state passed through his mind; the Hokage glanced at the scroll secured on the youngster's back. If anything would help him achieve that, then the scroll there would help. But he threw the thought away; he had more faith in Naruto than that.

~ ҉ ~

Naruto had no idea what to do. His heart was beating a thousand miles a minute, and his breathing was laboured. There was a pressure in his head that he couldn't bear, and he was emotionally exhausted. Panic consumed him; causing his body to freeze up in a painful lock.

It was times like this that made the world truly scary; when he was in danger and he couldn't hear the threat anywhere! It was a million times worse than when you'd hear a random creak in the night; not knowing if there was actually something out there, and no way of knowing was frightening.

Naruto didn't know if Mizuki was behind him, one hundred metres away, or if he had gone back to the village. He didn't know if Iruka was alright, if he was dead, or if he was on the verge of dying.

Tears built up, his sinuses clogged and his throat jammed; oh god, what if he was the reason Iruka would die?

In all his panic, he almost missed the small voice that trailed through his mind. It felt familiar, but felt so, incredibly wrong. This was not his conciscoud talking to him; and if what Mizuki said was right, he wanted nothing to do with it.

"**Calm down. You're useless if you sit here all panicked**."

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Naruto let go of the scroll and pulled his hands into his hair; tugging wildly. The scroll hit the branch of the tree he was hiding in, rolling precariously close to the edge.

"**Why should I? This mind is just as much mine, as it is yours**."

"GET OUT! You're evil, and I want nothing to do with you! It was you who made my life crap, it's all your fault! ALL OF IT!"

"**Calm down, Kit. I used to speak with you all the time until that stupid old man re-sealed me. Practically made me mute!" **Apparently, the voice was no worried about what Naruto had screamed at it.

"GET – _wait… what?"_ Naruto immediately stopped screaming aloud, instead switching to his mind.

"**The Third Hokage placed another seal on me when you were young. Apparently me helping you to read lips and teaching you sign language is a bad thing."**

"_You… taught me?"_

"**Damn right I did. Now, I haven't got much time; I need to teach you something**." The voice responded. The familiarity was increasing; the dark rumble almost soothing Naruto completely. With it, he now felt totally at ease; completely safe. "**What do you know about bats?"**

"_Uh… they fly_."

"…**Yes. Bats are also blind; to see, they use sonar to identify their surroundings. They do this by making loud noises, such as screeching, to send out sound waves. They listen for the echoes, and use this to gauge their surroundings**."

While Naruto didn't fully understand what exactly the voice was saying, he understood that they used a different method of seeing to make up for the fact that they were blind.

"_How does that help me? I'm not blind."_

"**Although you can see, we can use this method so you can see around you for incoming threats. If you hear what is happening, then you can use a different method to 'listen' to your surroundings."**

"_I'm deaf. How am I supposed to listen?"_ Naruto stated, voice deadpan. The voice sighed.

"**That's what we are going to use your chakra for."**

"_My…chakra?"_

"**Yes. By sending out impulses of your chakra, you can try to find just how far away things are. Extend you chakra, and wait until it 'hits something'. Count in your head if you need to, to find out how far away it is."**

Naruto listened to further instructions from the voice. In his mind he pictured a black world; in the middle was a blue and white body, which he supposed was himself. He imagined that his chakra flowed in a large circle around himself, which he repeated physically. He counted, and almost at once the chakra hit multiple organisms, and in his mind large circular mounds of blue and white appeared around him. Some with large limbs poking out, others with many splotches around the edges – trees! He gasped in surprise, losing all his concentration. His 'sonar' had picked up the forest around him, giving him a bird's eye view of his surroundings.

"**Well done. In the past, and even now, you've never had good control over your chakra-"**

"_Hey!"_

"**-but this isn't a Justu, so it doesn't actually require much control. You don't even need hand signs. All you need to do is concentrate enough to know when your chakra hits something. So even you can accomplish this." **The voice paused, groaning,** "Eugh… I feel my power draining. Listen, kit, try to find your teacher. I have a feeling he's not doing too well."**

"Iruka…" Naruto focused his chakra again, feeling the voice slip away. He extended his search, trying to find something that represented another person. Almost fifty metres away, he saw what he assumed was two people. He grabbed the scroll, and ran towards the figures. He was safe for now – but soon he would be in the midst of danger.

~ ҉ ~

Naruto got there in time. Neither Mizuki or Iruka noticed his presence. He hid behind a large tree, almost five metres away from where they were positioned. Iruka was leant heavily against a tree, injured back on bark and a random tree log beside him – why, he wasn't really sure. Mizuki was standing over him, posture completely predatory. Naruto leaned his head across the width of the tree just enough not to be noticed, but to also allow him to read their lips.

Mizuki was laughing chaotically, while Iruka watched silently. Mizuki pointed a long finger towards Iruka, eyes narrowing and chin lifting ever so slightly in superiority.

"Tell me. Why do you want to protect him so much, if he's the reason your family died?"

"I'm not going to let an idiot like you get your hands on this scroll."

"You're the idiot! Naruto is just like me!" Mizuki laughed, hand resting on his belly.

"…The same?"

"Anyone can do whatever they want once they have the scroll. There is no way that monster… That Kyuubi, won't take advantage of the power sealed in that scroll."

"You're right…"

Naruto stiffened, his head lifting slightly in astonishment. Iruka really believed he was a monster? All this time, every moment they spent together, was all a lie? He knew it was all too good to be true!

"…if he _was_ the Kyuubi. But Naruto is different. He's an exceptional student, who tries his best despite his disability. If half the students there were deaf as well, Naruto would probably be doing better than even them. He works hard; but he's single minded and clumsy all at the same time. Even though no one accepts him, he still understands the meaning of human suffering – which is a rare quality in any person. He is no demon fox spirit – he is Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves!"

Even before Iruka had finished speaking, Naruto had burst into tears. Every word that Iruka had spoken sunk into his heart, planting small amounts of hope, love and acceptance one piece at a time. He gripped the scroll tight against him, looking for an anchor. He tucked his head against the scroll for a moment, breathing in deeply. And then he turned his head back around the tree to look towards the two shinobi.

Just in time to see one of Mizuki launching towards Iruka, spinning shuriken in hand.

With what felt entirely inhuman speed, Naruto jumped forward, using his momentum to knock into Mizuki. Mizuki let go of the shuriken in his fall; the shuriken launching into the trees, shaving tree branch after tree branch off their host.

Both came skidding to a halt, Naruto positioned defensively before Iruka, while Mizuki lay face down in the dirt some hundred metres away.

Mizuki shakily got to his hands and feet, turning his head to face Naruto. His face was grazed from the dirt, and one eye was squeezed shut.

"Heh, you surprised me there."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, hand on scroll and looking entirely menacing. "If you _ever_ lay a hand on Iruka-sensei, you bastard, I'll kill you."

"Such tough talk for such a small kid. I could take care of you with a single blow!"

Naruto smirked, face haunting, as he raised his hands in front of his own face, striking a Jutsu symbol. "Why don't you just try then? I'll strike you back a thousand fold."

Mizuki laughed, teeth grinding against each other as his demeanour changed to a snarl. "Let's see you try! Show me what you got, _demon fox_!"

Iruka watched, heart thumping erratically, as Naruto shouted "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" and in a horrific explosion of smoke, a thousand different Naruto stood encircling the white haired ninja. They stood on the ground in different fighting stances, while others were sitting in the tree's, watching like hawks.

"_Naruto…! You've…. Those aren't just images, they're actual clones! That's an advanced ninjutsu, that even some Jounin can't do!"_ Iruka felt a swell of pride in his chest. He'd never been so proud of Naruto. While it was forbidden, it was still advanced; and Naruto had accomplished it. He couldn't even dream of doing this Jutsu. And only practicing it in a matter of hours? Absolute genius.

Mizuki mumbled to himself, shock and cowardess apparent on his features. He spun in circles, hands opening and closing, rising and falling against his body. He had no idea how to handle this situation. Shit, which was the real one?

Each Naruto had begun his own chain of trash talk, some giving him sign language, others speaking aloud. Each of them were an exact replica of Naruto, down to the stains and blood on his body, and each taunting and looking more menacing then the last.

"What's the matter?" "C'mon!" "Thought you said you could take me with a single blow?" "What are you, chicken?"

All of them spoke in sync, words flowing as one – words laced with a power that Iruka nor Mizuki could have ever imagined – "In that case… I'll come to you!"

With a wild scream, Mizuki was swallowed beneath a sea of orange-clad ninja; the scream eventually died out some half an hour later.

~ ҉ ~

With a large explosion of smoke, the clones disappeared. Mizuki's body lay in heap, patched of blood underneath his face and other areas of his body. The real Naruto was left, standing above Mizuki's head, eyes narrowed and harsh. But when he looked up to face Iruka, his face instantly brightened.

Iruka held his breath – was this really _his_ Naruto? This powerful, happy, scatterbrained ninja?

'_Well… I kinda got carried away. Hey, Iruka-sensei, are you okay?_' Naruto clambered over to his teacher, eyes worried and hands a flurry of sign language. Iruka supposed that he hadn't the energy to converse aloud, or that he was simply tired of speaking.

"Yeah…" He let out his held breath, giving Naruto a relieved smile. One eye was shut, a small dribble of blood dry against the corner of his mouth. "Ne, Naruto, I want to give you something."

~ ҉ ~

Konoha's shinobi were gathered just outside the Hokage's building. They fretted consistently about where Naruto could have been, if anyone had seen him, and just how he had gotten the scroll in the first place.

The Hokage waltzed out of his building, his smoking pipe held casually in his hand. His face was bored, completely unworried. He bunched his lips together, raising an eyebrow at the ninja – "So… what are you all doing out here?"

"Hokage-sama, we can't find Naruto!" "We have come to report… absolutely nothing…"

"Mmm… Yes, I am aware of the situation. Just go home. Naruto will be back soon."

~ ҉ ~

'_Iruka… can I open my eyes yet?_'

In response, he got a confirmation in the form of a pat on the shoulder. Naruto blinked his eyes open once or twice, standing before his teacher. Hm. Something looked different.

He studied his teacher quizzically, wondering what was different.

"Congratulations, Naruto… on your graduation."

Naruto was absolutely speechless – it was then that he noticed that Iruka was not actually wearing his headband, and with a quick look downwards, Iruka was holding his ugly green goggles.

He looked back up, catching what Iruka had just said – "In celebration, we'll have ramen tonight!"

Naruto quickly rushed his hands to his head, feeling the cool metal on his fingertips. He had his own headband – certifying that he was now a true ninja.

His face crumpled, overcome with emotion, and he launched himself at his teacher. Iruka laughed, catching Naruto as they fell against the tree Iruka had been leaning against before. They hugged, Naruto crying happy nonsense into Iruka's shoulder, and Iruka speaking words of encouragement and praise, even though Naruto couldn't hear him.

"_Naruto… I was going to lecture you about how difficult your journey would be now that you're a ninja… but I can do that later once we get to the ramen store. I'm so proud of you…"_

~ ҉ ~

**A/N –**

**This chapter was changed quite a bit during the BETA process – which I 100% did not approve of. I hadn't actually read the chapter before it got posted up, which is my fault. Long story short, I checked the original chapter myself and posted that. My reasons are my own, and I'm not going to explain them.**

**Hope you liked the chapter, I'll post the new chapter as soon as I can.**

**Urufu.**


	3. Team Mates

**Team Mates**

~ ҉ ~

Naruto never had a really good sense of time. He never had the use of an alarm clock – he couldn't hear it even if he had one. He usually got woken up by Iruka before school started and they would walk together there once Naruto was ready. But when Naruto noticed that the sun was higher in the sky than usual, he was curious.

He stretched rather gracefully, somewhat like a fox in the sun. His sheets were crumpled around his waist, sleep clothes dishevelled and a few buttons undone. His walrus hat was perched atop his head, looking almost as sleepy as its wearer.

Sleepily, Naruto turned his head to view the clock beside him and almost had a heart attack. He was half an hour late!

He scrambled into action – pulling on his orange outfit (and then putting it on again once he realized it was both back to front and inside out), shoving some money in his pockets and grabbing his goggles off his table. He hesitated. The goggles were cold in his hands and he fiddled with them in his fingers. He didn't need to wear this, did he? A fond smile lifted his face, as he caught eye of his headband. It was special to him, even though he had only owned it for a day. It was special, because it used to be Iruka's. Iruka was special to Naruto – almost like a father. Although he was too shy to admit that to his teacher, he really did believe it.

And now the headband was his. Pride swelled in his chest and he was quick to swap the goggles for the headband. His hands cupped the cool metal in his hands, eager to wear it. He slipped it on, making sure the metal plate was correctly atop his brow and the navy cloth secure against the top of his neck.

With a quick glance in the mirror – and feeling as though he really belonged to the village – he ran for the school.

~ ҉ ~

He made it just in time! The class had assembled in their seats, but Iruka was nowhere in sight. Relief flooded his system, lucky that he wouldn't have to face Iruka's wrath at his tardiness. He quickly spied an open seat, next to a girl with navy hair that he couldn't quite identify. She had on a large white hoodie, and her hair was cropped rather short. He shrugged to himself, slipping in beside her.

He missed the startled gasp beside him; how her face lit up like a beacon at his presence. He scratched the back of his head absently, before he scanned his eyes across the class. There were a lot of graduates here, enough for at least nine teams. Maybe more, he wasn't sure. A head of black hair caught his eye and he found himself glaring at it. He knew who the person was without even seeing their face; Sasuke.

Only God knew how much Naruto despised Sasuke. Most people believed it was because Naruto was jealous of the protégé student. He was the best in their class, after all. Yet it was something much deeper than that. Although he wasn't quite willing to give out that information at the moment.

He also spied a head of pink hair – Sakura. He used to have a crush on the girl a while back, but you get the hint that someone doesn't like you after the fiftieth rejection. She was a nice enough girl; pretty and smart. However, she also had the tendency to be quite violent – and Naruto had had quite enough of being on the receiving end of it, thank you very much.

A movement beside him drew his attention to the girl on his right. He was slightly curious and confused to why her face was the colour of a tomato, but what surprised him most was her attempt at talking to him.

'_H-hello Naruto~kun,'_

He appreciated the effort, but laughed a little when she didn't quite spell his name right and mixed up her hands when trying to say hello. She had accidently signed an '_m_' instead of an '_n_', so he re-signed his name for her. (1)

'_It's spelt N-a-r-u-t-o.'_

'S_orry._' If it was possible, her face went much redder. Her fore-fingers poked together; and Naruto found himself very confused. Was she repeatedly saying '_e_' weirdly, or was it a habit she had?

'_It's okay. I didn't know you knew sign language.'_ He signed, face slightly blank. He wasn't sure if she was teasing him or not. She looked flustered, face burning. Her hands came together, making nonsense, and Naruto sighed and plopped his head in his hands. He turned his face away from the fumbling girl, eyes running the length of the room.

Hinata realized his attention was elsewhere and felt herself become slightly disappointed. She was too embarrassed to reply and she felt annoyed at herself for spelling his name wrong. His name! She couldn't even get that right…

She took in a breath and tried to calm herself, trying not to get too worked up. It's okay though, she'll have another chance to talk to him later, right? Her attention was caught when she noticed her teacher come into the room.

Iruka's face was drawn tight, as though he hadn't slept at all the night before. While Iruka looked perfectly fine now, the class knew he had spent the night in the infirmary with several small wounds and a particularly large one on his back. No one knew how he had come across such injuries, but they knew not to ask.

Iruka cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the whole class. Whispered conversations dropped, and students who were out of their place returned quickly. Iruka smiled to his class, although she could tell his smile was specific to someone close by.

"Congratulations to everyone who graduated! You've completed all your exams and are finally a qualified shinobi! However, you are only Genin. You still have a long way to go." A few of the students giggled at that, "As you all know, Genin are grouped together in groups of three; two boys and a girl. We tried to even out the team members, to create a core of balance. Each squad will be led by a Jounin teacher."

The class broke out in whispers, talking about being in teams of three, about who their Jounin teacher's would be and some even being a little rowdy about who they'll get teamed up with. Hinata picked up a particular conversation between Sakura and a blonde haired girl called Ino, about being in a team with Sasuke.

Hinata's heart fluttered at the thought of getting teamed up with Naruto and she mentally crossed her fingers.

Naruto looked pretty bored at this point. He had been following what Iruka said up till then, but his mind drifted to who his potential team mates. While he hadn't any particular preferences for the girls, he definitely decided that he would not, under any circumstance, be partnered with Sasuke. Nope. No sirree.

His thoughts had drifted so much, that he had missed half of the teams that had been called. His mind only caught on when he felt a nudge in his shoulder. He turned his head to see the navy haired girl; her face was blushing profoundly as she motioned towards the front. Naruto flicked his eyes to the front, face still towards the girl.

Iruka had an eyebrow raised and rather than speaking, he placed the clipboard he was holding on the desk and decided to sign.

'_Naruto. Are you paying attention? I called out your team._'

Naruto blinked several times and made a huffing noise, which sounded somewhat like 'huh'.

'_Oh. Why who am I with?_' He signed, turning his whole body towards his teacher. There were a few snickers around the room at his obliviousness, but he didn't hear them. Iruka did, however, and told the class to shush. There were also several people upset and raging, that Naruto didn't hear – he could see them sitting up in their seats and complaining though. Wow, he sure did miss a lot.

Iruka rolled his eyes, but there was a small fond smile on his lips. He had realized Naruto wasn't paying attention, but there was only so much he could do. Although he was also hoping Naruto wouldn't kill him for the team selection.

"You are partnered up with Hinata Hyuuga and Sasuke Uchiha."

Time. Stood. Still.

Well, for Naruto at least. The boys fit into a fit of laughter, the girls screamed in protest. Sasuke Uchiha grumbled under his breath, clearly irritated, while Hinata Hyuuga was blushing once again.

And then, after a moment or two of utter silence from Naruto, he launched into a furious tantrum. Hands flew in front of his body, a whirl of utter nonsense. His words, however, made a little bit more sense.

"I can't be partner up with that bastard; he's a total jerk-face; I am way to awesome to be in his team!" and finally, "Who the hell is Hinata!?"

~ ҉ ~

What happened next wasn't much of a surprise. He had marched down to Sasuke's desk, engaged in a one-sided verbal battle (Sasuke just sat there and glared), got dog-piled by the girls and was now sitting awkwardly in the space between the desks. He was sporting a few bumps from where the girls had 'attacked' him. Iruka had yelled at the class and was the one to pull them all away; unfortunately not before damage had been dealt.

Naruto wasn't beaten too badly, just a few bruises here and there. His face was also a little puffy, and he tried to hide how much it bothered him. He hadn't even heard any of the girls coming, and he was really embarrassed that the girls were the ones to attack him. And he lost. But he wasn't really the kind to hit a girl anyway.

He sat up, Iruka fussing at him slightly while he rubbed gingerly at his ears. One or two of the girls, the ones he didn't know the names of, had actually dug their finger nails into his ears and twisted them all at different angles. Either they had forgotten they were sensitive to him, or they had done it on purpose, but Naruto covered them both with his palms. Other than that, no other physical damage was done, except for a few girl smacks here and there – the ones they do when they're annoyed. His eyes were hard, mouth smoothed into a thin line. No matter how much Iruka tried to distract Naruto and talk to him, Naruto would just not comply. His eyes squeezed shut, whispered words nearly inaudible.

"Leave me alone…"

And with that, Naruto shoved past Iruka and out the class room.

~ ҉ ~

The class had never seen Iruka so furious in their lives. They had seen him angry before, sure. He was a teacher, so it was a given. But he was so angry, it was completely different. He just stood up. He didn't say a word; didn't do anything. He just walked back to his desk, sat down on the edge and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked down his scarred nose at the students he was now so thoroughly disappointed in.

"Tell me. Why did you all do such a thing?"

His words were short, clear and edged. The class remained silent.

"No one will be in trouble if they speak up. But someone had better tell me what had happened."

A few moments hesitation, before a few students spoke up.

"Sir… he was annoying Sasuke!"

"Yeah, he was being annoying and yelling at him and stuff!"

Several girls yelled out similar excuses, some standing up to further their explanation. But they all died out once they saw the expression on their teachers face.

"So you went up and _physically harmed_ him!?" Iruka spoke up, voice rising in volume but not in pitch. He wasn't yelling, but the effect was similar. "We are Ninja! Shinobi of Konoha! What do we do if we have a disagreement with one another in our village?"

There was silence again, whilst Iruka glared; voice returning to normal. "We let the two who are in the disagreement spar. We do not get involved in disagreements that do not concern us. We do not beat up others who cannot fight back. We definitely do not harm them in ways that are also psychological. Naruto is deaf. That means that he is sensitive about his ears. WHY would one or more of you use that against him? I have never been more disappointed in this class." Iruka was handling the situation so calmly, which made it a million times worse.

The class knew what they had done was wrong, and they regretted it once Iruka had begun speaking. Several of the girls were crying. No-one wanted their teacher to be disappointed in them.

"Once Naruto returns to class, you are all to apologize to him." The class murmured in agreement. "And Sasuke; you and Naruto will settle your disagreements and both of you will take Hinata out and all of you will get to know each other. I don't want another reoccurrence of this, alright?"

Sasuke eyed him for a moment, before nodding slowly. Hinata nodded too, but raised her hand. Iruka nodded for her to speak.

"Iruka-sensei… c-can I go see if N-Naruto-kun is okay?"

Iruka nodded, watching as she quickly moved out the door. He knew the Genin had much to learn, but it seemed they needed to go over the basics of Human nature. He shook his head. They had much to go over.

~ ҉ ~

Hinata had an idea of where she would find him. She had often seen him sitting there, by himself. She would have loved to go join him, except that her shy nature kept her from approaching him. She'd been shy from a very young age and she had gotten her habits from her family. She never really learnt to approach others and she was often incredibly guarded around her classmates. Her shyness got her into sticky situations, where she couldn't reply properly, or she couldn't do what was required. She was weak in a sense – physically and emotionally.

While she may not have been the legacy of the Hyuuga clan like she was meant to be, she did have a large heart. She cared deeply for people and could understand them better than some others could. She could understand Naruto in a sense that he felt useless – she felt the same.

Her inner musings were cut off when she spied the blond ninja. He was where she was expecting – the swing. She wanted to approach him, but her nerves got the best of her. She held a deep breath; feeling it expand her chest and fill her lungs. She needed to do this.

She fought against her instincts to run, instead taking several steps closer. She was close enough to reach out and touch his shoulder and she did just that – surprising herself.

Naruto jumped in his seat slightly, but turned his upper body around to face her. His tears startled her, but her compassion burned bright enough to hold back the blush that tried to be apparent on her face. Almost without thinking, she moved to stand in front of him, her hands fiddling with each other. Naruto recognized a few signs, most of which was a repeat of '_Are you okay?'_

He knew his eyes would be red rimmed and wet; his cheeks would probably be blotched. Why she would ask if he was okay when the answer was so obvious, he wasn't sure. But the sincerity of her eyes when she asked the question showed that she was asking more than just that. He breathed in, hands clenching around the rope of the swing. In his head, he was trying to justify a plausible answer, but all his head would allow was that he was thoroughly embarrassed by what had happened, that he was sick of his ears – of how he couldn't hear.

His fingers slowly unwound from their enclosed fist, moving down to sign in front of his body.

'_I'm okay I guess. Could have been worse.'_

She fidgeted on her feet, and he noticed her cheeks glowing red. When she tried to reply, she made a few mistakes in her signs, sometimes using the wrong word, or having to spell out her words when she didn't know the sign. Eventually she gave up, saying instead;

'_I'm sorry.'_

He was certainly surprised by her words. He wasn't expecting her to say such a thing. Hell, he wasn't actually expecting someone to come out and find him. Except maybe Iruka, but that's not the point. But he was surprised by her words, because she hadn't even done anything wrong.

'_It's not your fault..?'_ His face was questioning, trying to show her he was confused.

She repeatedly said that weird '_e_' again, tapping the tips of her forefingers together. His head buzzed, reminding himself it was probably not her saying '_e_', but was actually a nervous habit.

'_You shouldn't have had to go through that._' She was still embarrassed, and it took her awhile to finish her sentence. While normally this would have annoyed Naruto, he appreciated the effort she was going through. He realized now that his eyes had dried and his cheeks had cooled. While he was still upset, he had calmed down a little bit. Her presence was a distraction, and her talking to him cheered him up a little – someone who actually knew sign language was rare; it was like finding someone who spoke your language in a foreign country.

'_It's fine… really. I'm used to it'_

'_You shouldn't be!'_ her face was completely outraged, as though offended by what he said. And her signs and expression was clearly a shock for the both of them. Both of them were wide eyed, hands frozen. Her face blazed, her hands rose to tap her forefingers together and she ducked her head. Her eyes were hidden by her hair, and if it were possible, Naruto would have sworn he saw steam rising from her cheeks.

And for some reason, her words and actions caused a laugh to bubble in his throat. One arm rose to scratch at the back of his head, the other wound around his stomach. His face lit up in a laugh, and she probably could have died from embarrassment.

He was laughing at her, wasn't he? But when he smiled at her and signed, '_Thanks, I needed that'_, she felt as though maybe he was just laughing at the situation more than anything.

~ ҉ ~

She had absolutely no idea how she had accomplished it. No idea whatsoever. It was also probably the strangest sight anyone could witness. Here she sat, her first time at Ichiraku's, between the village trouble maker and the sole Uchiha heir, who were currently in a ramen eating contest. It was a sight just to see Sasuke eating ramen – usually he would stay a hundred feet away from such an unhealthy food, yet he had eaten up to 5 bowls already. Naruto had only just started and was on his fifth bowl as well, but he clearly could eat about twenty more, while the Uchiha looked as though he couldn't stomach just one more.

She assumed that Sasuke only came along because of Iruka, and even then it was only on the slimmest chance. Naruto had been rather reluctant to come, but Hinata had mentioned Iruka wanting them too, and he ungraciously agreed to come.

But with the ramen contest… well Naruto was saying to the owner that he could eat a hundred more bowls of ramen, then Sasuke told him he would die of a salt overdose if he did. Then Naruto had said/signed something along the lines of "I know I can eat more than you, you bastard, and that's a fact".

And, well, that's how it began.

Hinata herself was still on her first (and to be only) bowl of ramen. She wasn't a picky eater, and the bowls were not actually that big – she just didn't feel up to eating. She was worried about how her team would develop, and what their purpose was to be. Were they to be scouts, fighters, back-up?

Whatever they were to become, she was confident that within time, they could accomplish it.

~ ҉ ~

Naruto couldn't help but feel a little happy about this outing. It would have been perfect, if Sasuke wasn't here (he pretty much ruined it), but it was still nice to be able to sit with new people and eat ramen. He was with someone who hated him and someone he barely knew – but at least they were here. It was usually more than he ever got. Iruka, and sometimes even the Hokage, would sit with him every other night for a bowl of ramen, but they were busy so often that it was a rare occurrence.

When Naruto thought of the Hyuuga heiress, he still felt a twinge of worry, confusion and suspicion. He didn't really know what she was trying to do, he didn't understand why she went red and weird around him, and he certainly didn't understand why she was here now. Other than the fact she was in his team, of course. He meant… how could he put it… _here now_. Like, why couldn't she have shown up earlier, rather than just because they were in a team? As far as he could remember, he hadn't actually met her before now.

Finishing his sixth bowl and ordering another, he thought of when she found him. He had been attempting to talk to that voice in his head. He was talking, sharing, and letting out his frustrations, but there was just no reply. It didn't help him feel better, it just made him feel… alone. It was truly a horrible feeling. But just her presence and her replies at the time made him feel like he wasn't alone then.

So now, had had five major people in his life now.

The Hokage, who checked up on him now and again. He often irritated the old Shinobi leader by calling him 'Ojii-chan'.

Iruka, who treated him like an equal, and more often than not, like a son. Iruka was probably the most important person, by far.

And now Hinata and that bastard, Sasuke. The two people who he was going to spend a majority of his first few years as a ninja with. He really couldn't imagine how things would turn out with them. He didn't know if they would have his back, or whether he would drift behind the scenes like he usually did, in class. But one way or another, he would just have to try his best for the more positive outcome.

And the fifth – the voice in his head. Maybe he imagined it all, but the voice seemed to be kind and helpful. But what Mizuki had said truly bothered him. He said he was the Kyuubi… does that mean that voice was the Kyuubi? But wasn't the Kyuubi something powerful, evil and deadly? The Kyuubi was described as nothing close to kind or helpful. It was the complete polar opposite. But regardless of that, he had firsthand experience that the demon fox had shown him a way to get around his disability – which was more than what others had attempted.

But he knew there was a sixth person to come. They had yet to meet with their Jounin teacher. He knew without a doubt that their team would not get Iruka, so that was something he knew he couldn't look forward too. He just hoped that person would be kind enough to look past his disability, and treat him like a real ninja, rather than a liability.

Naruto downed his eighth bowl angrily, crashing the bowl on the counter with a mental growl. His teammates gave him a one of two looks – either like a deer in the headlights shocked, or blank with a raised eyebrow. Which of course, he ignored. They may have spoken to him, he didn't know. All he could think of was this teacher they were supposed to have.

The person might be kind, like Iruka. They'd help him as much as they could, help him hone his skills and learn to become a ninja who does not rely on hearing, like everyone else. But maybe they would be disappointed with an impaired student, like most of the other teachers he'd had growing up.

Either way, he'd have to wait and see.

~ ҉ ~

No one saw the man sitting on the building opposite the ramen stall. No one saw the book he was holding; no one saw the knowing glint in his eyes. The person chuckled, pocketing the book, and watching the three Genin eat ramen. Eyes went from Uchiha to Hyuuga, and then pausing on Uzumaki. No one saw the smile creep on his face.

"Things will be interesting."

Then with a smile of two mismatched eyes, he was gone.

~ ҉ ~

**(1) Please refer to the BSL Fingerspelling Alphabet chart, for two hands. Here's the link if you are interested. blog . asldeafined wp – content / uploads / 2009 / 07 / fingerspelling _ alphabet _ british _ sign _ language . jpg**


	4. Leader, Where Art Thou?

**Leader, Where Art Thou?**

~ ҉ ~

Iruka glared pointedly at the Jounin across from him. He sat with the Jounin at his home, talking to him about overtaking Team 7.

"So… you're telling me that you have a team who has two members with impeccable eye abilities, and then one other who can't even hear?" The Jounin seemed amused.

"Well yes, but the team is balanced as is."

"Oh really? How so?"

"Although Naruto cannot hear, he can still communicate with his teammates through sign language. He can speak aloud and read lips, too."

"And what happens if he is out of sight of his teammates? How will he communicate then?" The Jounin leant back, eyes pinching in the corners. He was amused.

"…" Iruka felt a sweat droplet roll down his temple. He actually hadn't thought of that. "Well, Naruto could speak to them through a wireless communication device. I know that some other Genin teams use them in their beginning missions."

"And how will he know if they reply to him?"

Iruka glared harder, if it were possible. Whatever he said, he knew that this conversation would be going around in circles.

"Besides that, how will I know if you were good enough to train this team? There are three amazing students on this team. One who is the only heir to the Uchiha family, one who is part of the Hyuuga main family…"

"And the other?"

"You know damn well who the other is. After all, you're the one who convinced me to teach him." Iruka sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"But just so you know… he's my favorite student. He's like family. So if you hurt him, I'll come after you. If you hurt any of them, it'll be on your head."

The Jounin seemed amused. "… You know who I am; I know who you are. I think we both know you're in no position to threaten me."

Iruka laughed, eyes closed and head shaking. "It's been a few years since we've last met. I can assure you… I am not the same as I once was. I am not as weak as I once was." There was a dangerous look in his eyes when he looked up to the Jounin.

The Jounin had the decency to look sheepish, his eyes widening a fraction.

"But you also know how I work, my methods… I'm not weak either. I've also improved."

"Improved? I'd say cheated your way up."

The Jounin laughed. "Using my techniques is not _cheating_, Iruka."

"…I've heard of your methods in teaching Genin… Are they as bad as people say they are?" Whatever teaching methods the Jounin used, caused a big stir amongst the Jounin. Some Jounin teachers had even asked the Hokage to reconsider; after all… the only students he had, had failed each and every one of his tests.

"Mm…. No. I wouldn't say they're as bad as everyone is saying."

Iruka sighed in relief; it was actually a bit worrying with what he had heard.

"…No… they're much worse!"

The damn Jounin almost sounded happy.

~ ҉ ~

Naruto stretched lazily as the sun breached through his curtains, washing him in golden light. He really had no desire to wake up that morning, but a small wiggle in the back of his mind reminded him that his team, Team 7, was supposed to be meeting their Jounin teacher today.

Naruto was curious to see what his teacher would be like. He had no idea what to expect – would the teacher be as kind as Iruka? Or a total dick like Mizuki?

He decided to get ready; moving around his apartment at his own pace, steadily getting ready for the day. With a heavy yawn, he pulled on his headband, tightening as he walked out the door.

His hands were stuffed in his pockets, eyes shut as he strolled through the village. A few villagers watched as he passed, curious. They were all still adjusting to Naruto wearing a ninja headband – and that he had suddenly stopped playing all his pranks.

The class was told they could meet their Jounin teachers at the school, but Iruka had specifically told team 7 to meet their teacher in one of the trainer grounds. Apparently that's where their Jounin teacher told them to go; and by the look on Iruka's face, he wasn't too pleased with that decision.

So Naruto found himself strolling into the trainer area, finding his two teammates sitting beside three vertical logs. Hinata seemed to be talking quietly to him, face blushing furiously, while Sasuke only really nodded in response. Hinata looked up when she noticed her teammate approach, while Sasuke simply ignored him.

Naruto's facial expression was similar to a fox, eyes narrowed into a slit, cheeks round and mouth curved. He was really looking forward to meeting their Jounin teacher; he wondered what they'd be liked, their personality, their looks… almost like a blind date. Well, actually, no. Let's not use that reference.

Hinata hesitantly signed hello to him, face almost as red as before.

'_H-hello Naruto-kun!'_

'_Good Morning, Hinata-chan._' His voice was almost as happy as his smile. He didn't bother with Sasuke though – he wasn't worth the time.

Hinata's face went a little red, but a small smile graced her lips.

Sasuke blinked slowly, eyes rolling under his lids until they settled on the new arrival.

"You're late, dobe."

'_Shut up! I am not!'_

Sasuke gave him a blank look. Naruto growled under his breath, hands coming to sign words as he went to speak aloud –

"I said-"

"I know what you said, idiot. But you do realize you were supposed to be here two hours ago."

Naruto threw out a finger to point at the Uchiha heir, face contorted with anger.

"You bastard! I _knew _you knew sign language!"

"Hn." Sasuke turned his face away, apparently bored with the situation. Naruto huffed, arms crossed over his chest. And swiveled on his foot, turning to walk towards Hinata before planting himself beside her. He absently pulled at the grass beneath him. Hinata's face went red, once again, at Naruto's closeness.

"H-how are you, Naruto?" Hinata shyly asked, her hands moving slowly with her words. Naruto tilted his head, which reminded her oddly of a dog, before he shrugged his shoulders.

'_I'm fine.'_

Hinata and Naruto talked idly for a minute or two, Hinata stuttering and mixing up her signs. Naruto tried not to get frustrated. But once again, he appreciated her effort.

Through the midst of their talking (or, whatever it could be called) he noticed a strange contraption a little ways away. He asked Hinata was it was, exactly. She seemed a bit surprised.

"Oh! That's a sundial." Her hands weaved strangely, making the words. "It's a clock that uses the sun." She stood and hesitantly pulled at his arm. He followed her, as they both walked over to the sundial. Strangely enough, their movements even caught the attention of their other teammate. Rolling his eyes and standing with his hands in his pockets, he followed them over too.

Naruto asked a few questions, but only got one or two answers. Hinata was so flustered; she couldn't really sign or speak her answers without mucking up one way or another. Eventually though, he figured out what the heck it did. At present, the sun was arching over the sky, casting a shadow that pointed halfway between ten and eleven. So it was about ten thirty.

They all stood there, looking at the sundial; no one spoke, no one moved away. For the next eight hours, no one spoke; wondering just where the hell their teacher was.

~ ҉ ~

It was approximately 6pm, when someone finally approached them. Sasuke was leaning back against the logs at this point, and was first to notice them coming. Hinata had dozed off around an hour again, her head curled between her shoulder and the log she was leaning on. Naruto was lying on the ground, spread eagle as he watched the clouds drift lazily across the sky.

Sasuke acknowledged their presence with a nod, standing up and brushing imaginary dirt from his clothes. Naruto noticed him, cocking an eyebrow. What the heck was he doing?

Sasuke just rolled his eyes, looked at the sleeping Hyuuga and shook her shoulder lightly. He didn't really care if she woke up or not. Actually, he didn't know why he was bothering. When Hinata begin to wake, he pulled his arms away and pointedly ignored his two other teammates.

Hinata squeaked in surprise, not actually realizing she had fallen asleep in the first place. She saw the new face, her cheeks burned lightly. She shook Naruto's leg – since it was closest to her – and he lifted his head to look at her. She pointed across the both of them and Naruto followed her hand with his eyes.

And that's when he saw the Jounin.

He instantly scrambled up, arms flying nonsense by his side. By the time he was settled standing, his arms began to furiously speak for him.

'_Where the hell have you been? We've been waiting here all day!'_

The Jounin cocked his head to the side, turning a confused look to the two other Genin.

"Eh… can you translate that?"

And that pissed Naruto off even more. Who the hell was this guy?

"The dobe wants to know why you're late." Came Sasuke's stoic reply. He had no emotion in his voice and he looked decidedly bored.

Naruto squinted, looking at their 'teacher' closely.

Their teacher was probably in their thirties. His eyes were crinkled lightly in the corners, his mouth set in a straight line. His eyes were identical colors, although from this distance Naruto couldn't quite tell what color they were. He wore the typical Jounin Ninja garb. The only distinguishable feature about the man was… well, he was smoking.

A long wisp of white smoke spilt from his lips, rising lazily into the sky. Naruto glared.

'_Who the hell are you?'_

The Jounin raised an eyebrow. "Still can't understand you, kid." He turned to Sasuke, "What did he say?"

"N-Naruto-kun was wondering w-who you were…" Hinata stuttered instead. "I-I think we all a-are."

"Ah. My name's Asuma." He said, plucking the cigarette from his lips. He tapped it once or twice against his fingers, flicking away the ash, and replacing it in his mouth.

"So you're our teacher? Tch." Sasuke couldn't help but glare. Seriously?

"Ah... no. I'm not you teacher. I was actually thinking of bringing my team here tomorrow. I'm in charge of your classmates Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji." Asuma nodded, agreeing with his own statement. Sasuke rolled his eyes, Hinata nodded too, while Naruto just stared.

'_If you're not our teacher, then who is?'_

Asuma shook his head, motioning a hand to Hinata so she could translate. Naruto was getting pretty pissed off.

"Who is o-our teacher?"

"Ah. That'd be right… He's late, isn't he?" Asuma cricked his neck, planting his hands on his hips. "Well, knowing your sensei as well as I do, I'd say… he's not coming."

"WHAT!?" Naruto burst out, completely forgetting the use of sign language.

"Oh hey! He can speak-"

"Why isn't he coming!?" Naruto stressed, expression comically identical to Sasuke's. They both held 'you have got to be kidding me' expressions, eyes set in hard stares. Hinata was just as shocked as they both were, but managed to hide it a little better.

"Who can say?" Asuma shrugged, chewing absently on his cigarette. "Anyway, I'd say you should all head home for now."

And with that, Asuma shooed them all off home. It was safe to say the Genin were pretty unhappy with the turn of events.

~ ҉ ~

The next morning, Naruto found himself being lectured by Iruka. Well actually, his whole team was but that's beside the point. Naruto found it a bit difficult to follow Iruka as he lectured, since his mouth was moving too quickly at times, and sometimes he didn't use sign language.

Naruto sat at his school desk with his cheeks puffed out, arms crossed over his chest. Sasuke sat with his elbows on the desk, fingers in a steeple before his mouth. His eyes were cold and hard. Hinata sat, embarrassed and guilty, face red and hands twitching nervously in front of her.

Iruka was mad, madder then he usually was.

"Eight hours! EIGHT!" Iruka threw his arms out, an exasperated expression plastered on his face. "You were there for _eight_ hours, and you didn't do a thing!? That was a perfect opportunity to get to know each other, go find your damn teacher or to at least spar!"

"Iruka-s-sensei is right…" Hinata mumbled, feeling upset. She should have done something…

"Why would I spar with these two? It'd be a waste of time." Sasuke simply stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Surprisingly, Naruto remained silent.

Iruka shook his head, was about to say something, when the door to the classroom opened up and a person walked in.

Naruto lifted his head when the person waltzed – yes, literally waltzed – into the room, head held high and reading what looked like a porno book. Upon closer inspection… yes, it was.

Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow at the stranger.

Hinata tilted her head to the side, slightly confused.

Iruka… well, he looked annoyed.

"'Kashi, what the hell were you thinking!?"

The Jounin raised his head, eyes twitching as though they demanded to go back to the book. "Hm?"

"You left them there all on their own! _For eight hours_!"

"Ah yes… that." The Jounin closed the book with a light thud, moving to hide it in his back pocket. He addressed the Genin, "I'm Kakashi Hatake. I was going to be teaching you."

Of course, both Sasuke and Hinata understood what the Jounin was saying; Naruto however, just sat there like a fish out of water.

The damn Jounin was wearing a mask!

How the hell was he going to understand him? Before he could voice his complaints, Iruka sighed and started to translate whatever the Jounin had said, into sign language.

"What do you mean, was?" Sasuke asked, looking less than concerned. It was as if this situation was not worth his time.

"Well, me leaving you alone for an extended period of time was actually a test."

"A…t-test?" Hinata inquired, completely confused. Her hands were brought up in front of her in a defensive look, fingers dabbing together.

"Yes, a test. You see, I have been observing you three for the last few days. And honestly, I'm disappointed. I get three note-worthy students, and none of them have lived up to my expectations." Kakashi's only visible eye was unamused – bored, even.

Kakashi was a strange looking Jounin, Naruto had to admit. He had a mane of silver hair, which was straight up and shoved to the side. He was taller than Iruka but was wearing something similar. His face was normal looking, Naruto supposed, but it was hard to tell because of the fact that he was wearing a mask, and his headband was lying over his left eye.

"How can be we a disappointment if we haven't done anything yet?" Sasuke enquired. He wasn't concerned, per se, but being an Uchiha, being a disappointment was not an option.

"As Iruka explained already, you were alone for eight hours. That was the perfect opportunity to get to know each other, spar – or as I intended, some _find _me." Iruka continued to sign, while Kakashi looked between the three students. "Tell me… what exactly do you know about each other?"

Hinata hesitantly raises her hand, but the boys did nothing. They just glared.

"Yes, Hinata?"

"S-Sasuke-kun is an Uchiha. H-he has a family k-kekkei genkai. He-"

"That's enough." Kakashi cut her off, hands resting casually on his hips. "If all you know is what is obvious, then that's just sad. As a team, you are supposed to know each other, inside and out, if you want to be a good team. As you are, you would all die on your first mission."

His words were hard, but effective. Sasuke glared at the wall beside him, Hinata ducked her head in shame. Naruto dropped his arms away from his chest, his face looking sober. The Jounin had a point. What kind of team were they?

"While you have failed in my eyes already, I will offer you one more chance." The Jounin pulled his book back out of his pocket, finding the place he left off. "If you cannot achieve it; then there is no point in me teaching you. You will have to begin at the academy all over again. If you succeed… well, that remains to be seen." With a nod of his head, a look to Iruka and a sweep of his eyes over the students, he poof'd away.

~ ҉ ~

It was late. After the Jounin had left, Iruka had talked to the students for a little while longer. While they all felt disappointed in themselves (some showing it more obviously than others), they agreed to meet earlier than what Iruka had told them, in order to 'get to know each other'. They had had this opportunity twice before, but they promised Iruka they would actually use it this time around.

Iruka had watched Hinata and Sasuke leave, slightly curious when he spotted Naruto still sitting in his seat, head looking to the world outside. Iruka sighed, and found himself moving to sit beside his student. When a hand was placed on his shoulder, Naruto turned around. His expression may have been blank, but his eyes expressed the worry he so desperately wanted to hide.

'_Iruka-sensei… how am I supposed to do this?_' Naruto questioned, hands moving in front of him. '_He wears a mask… I can't read his lips, and he didn't use sign language. What am I supposed to do?_'

Iruka cracked his knuckles in thought, before moving his hands to speak.

'_Kakashi does know sign language. Kakashi is known to be the 'copy ninja' for a reason; he learnt it by copying others. He may use it on occasion, but it will probably be rare._'

Naruto nodded slowly, not quite understanding what Iruka was trying to tell him. A fond smile played at the teachers lips, '_I think it is supposed to be a way that you can learn to rely on your teammates. You won't always have a teacher, after all. You will be relying on your teammates more often than you would him. I'll make sure Kakashi uses his sign language for you, but don't rely on it.'_

Iruka sighed, expression quite similar to Naruto's.

'_In all honesty, I am just as worried about this as you. But you're strong, Naruto. If you can handle this, you can handle everything._'

When they departed, Naruto felt the dark thoughts swirling in his mind. He had many doubts, confusions and worries. He knew that he would be the one who would let his team down.

A ninja who cannot hear is useless, as he had been told more often than not.

But despite these things, he knew – just as Iruka has said – if he could get past this obstacle in his path to success, than he could do anything.

~ ҉ ~


	5. Kaleidoscope

~ ҉ ~

**Kaleidoscope**

~ ҉ ~

When Naruto showed up to the meeting place the next day, he felt determined. Determined to show his teammates and his sensei, just what he was capable of. He knew how to read lips, he could sign; he knew how to communicate despite his deafness.

But this whole mask issue… well, it was just that. An issue.

How was he supposed to overcome that? Just that thought had kept him awake that night, trying to come to an appropriate conclusion on how to overcome it.

He had thought of asking his team to sign for him, but then he would be watching them, not his teacher. That could be a problem if Kakashi-sensei was teaching them a technique.

How the hell was he supposed to do this?

Naruto looked up to his teammates, who were sitting calmly in the field. Sasuke sat with his legs bent upwards, elbows resting on his knees. His fingers hung limply between his legs, his face as blank as always. Hinata was doing something with her hands, although Naruto couldn't see what exactly it was. Her face was a strange shade of scarlet, however. Behind them both, sat three vertical logs; about the thickness of a barrel, and the height just taller than that of Naruto.

Naruto sat himself in between his two teammates, feeling quite unsatisfied by the fact their sensei wasn't there. Of course, they knew he'd be there, eventually.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Naruto had gotten bored. Sasuke had stayed in his position, the same as Hinata. Naruto had been squirming in his spot, obviously irritated.

Naruto twisted his hands in his lap, feeling his irritation build. Where was Kakashi-sensei? Rubbing absently at the back of his head, he looked at his teammates. Well, not much help there. His mind wandered to the issues that both Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei had brought up the day before, criticising the team on their non-existent cooperation.

"_If all you know is what is obvious, then that's just sad. As a team, you are supposed to know each other, inside and out, if you want to be a good team. As you are, you would all die on your first mission… you have failed in my eyes already"_

Naruto grit his teeth, climbing slowly to his feet.

"Okay Sasuke-bastard, let's spar." Naruto spoke aloud, standing directly in front of Sasuke, giving him a cold look. Sasuke just looked up, bored.

"And why would I do that?"

'_Because of what Kakashi-sensei said. We need to get to know each other. If I can figure out your weaknesses, than I'm sure the bad guys will be able to do so much quicker than I could.' _Naruto signed while grinning foxily. This would be _FUN_.

Hinata though, had other ideas.

"N-no. D-don't. I have a-another idea." She blushed furiously when her two teammates looked at her – one with a raised eyebrow, one looking oddly like his name-sake.

"And that would be…?"

"We… we could um…" Her face bloomed with colour, her hands fiddling near her chest. Normally, she wouldn't be so bold, but she wanted to be able to participate with her teammates. She couldn't do that if they sparred; they'd never want to spar with her, she was too weak. She also realised how selfish those thoughts sounded, and promptly scolded herself.

"We could… find Kakashi-sensei."

"….What?"

"I-it could be like a g-game of cat and m-mouse…?" She suggested, staring at the ground. She was startled when Naruto let out a loud burst of laughter.

'_That sounds' great!_' he signed, barely controlling the words he formed. Sasuke just shook his head, mumbling under his breath. But nevertheless, he gradually stood up, hands in pockets and looking bored.

The fact that they were even willing to go along with what she suggested was a minor miracle. They'd really let her make the decisions? Her face flushed, her fingers poking together in her embarrassment.

"Yes, that does actually sound like a decent idea. Unfortunately, I have other plans."

Sasuke and Hinata jumped at the new voice (although Sasuke would later deny it), both swivelling to find the source of the voice. Naruto was confused at his teammate's sudden movements, and decided to see what had made attention drift. Their eyes looked up to find their silver-haired sensei perched atop the middle vertical log, peering at them amusedly.

"The Hell!? You were supposed to be here ages ago!" Naruto seethed, pointing a not-so-threatening finger towards the Jounin. Sasuke glared at their sensei; he was just as unimpressed as the others, but was less willing to be so vocal about it.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said in a non-apologetic voice; actually, he sounded rather the opposite. "But there was this weird looking wolf thing on the side of the road and I decided to help it. It was rather fascinating, really. It had fire in its eyes and looked like it was made of jelly."

"Bull!" Naruto roared, the same time Sasuke snorted "I doubt it."

Hinata looked shocked, feeling slightly in wonder that a creature such as that should exist, but when Naruto and Sasuke voice their opinions, she mentally chastised herself at believing something so obviously false.

Kakashi only shrugged at their responses, stretching out of his perch and dropping to the ground next to his students. One hand found the inside of his pocket, the other pulling a book seemingly out of no-where and began reading.

"Okay, so this idea of mine, is… similar, in what Miss Hyuuga had originally suggested. Except for looking for a person, per se, you'll be looking for… things."

The arrangement seemed to have caught the attention of two of his students, but pissed of the third.

Naruto pulled on Hinata's sleeve, forcing her attention on himself. Her face scarlet, she translated; "H-he wants us to go look for t-things."

'_Why are we looking for things?_' Naruto signed, narrowing his eyes at his teacher.

'_Well, normally, I'd have you try to capture some bells that I had in my possession. However, because of the circumstances of this group, I can't exactly have you doing that. After all, you did require your hearing to help you locate them on my person. So, instead, I'll have you achieve a task to do with sight, instead.'_

Kakashi had decided to begrudgingly put his book back into his pocket, and switching to sign language. Naruto felt a pang of annoyance, but let it slide.

'_Now, I have a list of things you'll need to find. These will be hidden, some obvious, other not as much – and if you don't have them by sundown, then well…_' Kakashi trailed off, giving them all a meaningful glance.

The two boys gave him two twin glares, while Hinata looked to her hands. She really didn't want to mess this up for them…

'_So, here is your list…_' Kakashi snapped his fingers, and three identical-looking scrolls appeared in his hands. '_Now, there is a catch to this. Everyone has different things on their lists, and each item has different values. The goal is to get as many items, and therefore as many points as possible. Unfortunately, the person with the least points… well…. They'll be going back to the academy._

The three Genin reached out and each grasped a scroll. Unravelling them, they scanned over the contents. Naruto's eyebrow twitched his eyes narrowing as he scanned his list.

**Scavenger hunt!**

**- A purple dog (50 points)**

**- A kunai, from a different team (10 points)**

**- Iruka, bring him back here (100 points)**

**- A pair of panties (50 points)**

**- The next Icha-Icha novel (200 points**

**- A ramen bowl from Ichiraku's (20 points)**

**- Ten shuriken (30 points)**

**- That weird dog I saw (1000 points)**

Naruto snuck a glance at Hinata's list, seeing that some of her items were identical to his. When he saw a pair of boxers on her list, a wicked smile came over his face.

"Hey Hinata, I'll swap you mine for yours!" he motioned to the list, and Hinata's face flushed dangerously. Her embarrassment was so high, she barely noticed that she let out a startled squeak and thrust her hand out. Opened her eyes (that she hadn't noticed she'd shut), she saw that Naruto was flying on his back several yards back, face painted with a bright red handprint that rivalled the colour of her own face.

"H-Hinata…" Naruto whimpered. Well, that was definitely a shock. He would have expected that reaction from, well, Sakura. But not her.

Sasuke was trying to fight the smirk that was playing at his lips, while Kakashi just laughed.

"That was great!" Kakashi laughed, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "Absolutely beautiful. 100 points for you, Hinata!"

Naruto sat up, rubbing at his face. Hinata's eyes resembled dinner plates, and she rushed to his side, dropping her scroll as she did.

"I-I-m so s-sorry!" She stuttered, trying to help him sit up. Her face was still red, brightening a little at their close proximity.

Naruto mustered a small smile, noticing her sincerity.

'_I'm fine. Don't worry. I shouldn't have said anything_.' He signed back, watching as she ducked her head and let out a small sigh. He gave his attention to Kakashi then, his eyes changing to a glare.

'_Oi, Kakashi-sensei. What the hell is with this list? It has some pretty weird stuff on it. How are we supposed to get any of this stuff?_'

Kakashi shrugged, '_You're a Ninja, aren't you? Figure it out._'

'…_Sensei?'_

'_Yes?'_

'_You're a freaking pervert.'_

~ ҉ ~

And this is how Naruto found himself at the woman's bathhouse in Konoha, in his Sexy Jutsu (he wanted to blend in as much as possible), trying to steal some random woman's clothes. His disguised face was a light pink, eyes a little too wide for the situation. He laughed lightly to himself, as he sifted through the unattended clothing.

It was every young boy's dream to be able to get himself one of these items, but Naruto was only really willing to get them because of the task. He had already managed to get the kunai (from Chouji – he traded him a bag of chips) and the shuriken. He planned on going to Ichiraku's to get the bowl, and then he was going to see if he could manage to get Iruka away from the academy for those extra points. After all, he absolutely refused to be the person with the least points. He was NOT going back to the academy!

He really had no idea how he was going to get the purple dog, the next Icha-Icha book (for goodness sake, he was not going to go out and buy a porno book for his teacher!) or that stupid fictional-wolf thing that Kakashi had made up.

After a few moments of his searching, he found exactly what he was looking for. Holding them out in front of him, he examined his find. Pink and flowery. Huh.

He shoved them in his back pocket, and made a stealthy escape through the back entrance of the bath house. He some-how managed to escape without being caught by a staff member or from any of the visiting women, which he was thankful for. All the women in Konoha proved to be quite temperamental and has a tremendous amount of strength hidden within their petite bodies. And Naruto knew this, because he had been caught there before.

Walking out the back, he lifted his arms behind his head, letting out a satisfied laugh. He was about to release his Jutsu when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A scowl crossed his face when he noticed a weird red and white bushy thing against the wall of the women's bathing area. By the way the bush jiggled and shrugged, he was assuming it'd be laughing to itself. But considering that bushes don't laugh, he knew what it was.

"Hey! Perv!" he yelled out, which instantly alerted the bush, as well as the several women in the bathing area. With several screams from the inside of the walls, the women made their exit as the pervert shook his head, turning to look at his interrupter.

"What do you wan-" The pervert stopped talking, instead his mouth dropped open in a gasp, eyes as wide a saucers. His face instantly transformed from annoyance to smitten.

Naruto found himself scowling. The man has long white hair that was just way too long for a man to have. He wore some red garments and tattoos adorned his face. And Naruto could definitely tell he was an old geezer.

"You, my dear, are a beauty. Would you like to feature in my new book?" he gestured to a few books that Naruto noticed around his feet.

"Why would I want to be around a pervert like you?" Naruto grit out, crossing his arms. This only made the pervert's face light up even further, so Naruto decided to disrupt the old man's fantasies.

Naruto dispelled the Jutsu, and watched as shock, irritation, then finally resignation fell over the old man's face.

"Oh." Was all he said.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. '_Oh? That's it?_'

The old man raised a curious eyebrow, squinting when Naruto began to sign. "Yes, 'Oh.' I'd heard rumours about some brat that liked to pull pranks on people, but I didn't realise that he'd pull a prank like this on a helpless old man.

'_Helpless old man? You're nothing but an ero-jii-san!"_

"Perverted grandpa? Ha! Ha-ha!" The old man laughed aloud, clutching his belly. "Well, I suppose that's a little accurate. But I wouldn't call myself perverted… I'd call myself someone who had an eye for beauty, rather. And besides, I'm actually a great sage!"

'_Ero-sennin'_ Naruto corrected, a firm look in his eye. The old man gave him a withering look.

"And what might your name be? Hm?"

'_N-a-r-u-t-o'_ Naruto spelled, as he usually did with new people. And odd look passed over the old man's face. If Naruto hadn't been paying close attention to the old man, he would have missed the way he mouth "but that's the name of…"

A spark of recognition went through the old man's eyes, and he smiled despite his situation.

"Well, hello Naruto. I'm Jiraiya."

~ ҉ ~

Half an hour before sundown, the three Genin met up with Kakashi at the spot they were at earlier. Each of them carried several items with them, as well as a couple of strange acquirements. Naruto has managed to get everything except for the damned fictional-wolf thing, even Iruka, who apparently had the afternoon off. He managed to find a stuffed purple dog toy in the kindergarten section of the academy, which Iruka said he could borrow for the task.

Sasuke had several items with him as well. He has with him several scrolls, a few ninja related weapons, some flowers (oddly enough) and some other items Naruto couldn't make sense of.

Hinata… well, she had several items lying at her feet, but her worried look spoke volumes.

'_Okay! How many points did each of you managed to wind up, huh?_'

"460!" Naruto declared proudly, dumping everything he acquired on the ground. The stupid pervert he met at the bath house just happened to be the author of those damn porno books. So he was able to get a copy off the old man (under the deal he showed him the Sexy Jutsu again… just, eeww).

'_Oh! Did you get the book'_ Kakashi seemed a little too excited, and Iruka sighed, pressing his palm against his forehead. Naruto held out the book between two fingers, and Kakashi almost pranced forward in his excitement to get to it. With a weird look in his eye, Kakashi deposited said book into his back pocket.

'_Right. How about you, Sasuke?'_

"460."

'_Good work. You, Hinata?'_

"….440"

There was a pregnant pause, and Hinata's confidence dropped even further as possible. Naruto felt a pang of sympathy go through him, while Sasuke just stared at his teammate, expression unreadable. Kakashi sighed, and then spoke and signed; "So, that mean's…. Hinata, you're going back to the academy."

"WHAT!?" Naruto and Sasuke both yelled. Hinata just cringed, already expecting her fate.

'As I said from the start, the person with the lowest points has to go back to the academy.'

Even Iruka seemed appalled at the idea.

"Kakashi! You can't just send her back to the academy! Teams have to be in three's! If she goes back, than the boys…"

"Can't pass either? Yes, I know."

Sasuke curled his hands into his palms, finger nails biting into pale flesh. "You knew this from the start? Then what was the point of getting us to do this stupid task."

"In all honesty, two scrolls accounted up to 460 points, discluding the last item. The third scroll, only account up to 440. Someone was always going to fail the test, regardless of how many items people managed to get." Kakashi said meaningfully, hands interpreting his words in front of him. "It was just determined on who drew the wrong scroll. I could have set her back, and kept you both, but, well… that wasn't the point."

'Than what was?' Naruto signed, too angry for words.

"I've already told you, but obviously, you didn't listen."

"P-please, punish me, n-not them!" Hinata pleaded, tears in her eyes.

Naruto grit his teeth, and Iruka began to speak up, but a raised hand from Kakashi silenced him.

'_This has nothing to do with you, Iruka. They are my students now, and all decisions made by me, are final._' The two men exchanged glares, before Iruka huffed and returned to the academy. Naruto instantly felt less solid as his teacher walked away. Iruka could have fought for them… but now…

Kakashi gave them all a look. "I need to go to the academy to inform them they'll be getting a student back. I'll return in five minutes exactly."

And then Kakashi made the appropriate hand-signs, and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke;_ poof_.

Hinata tried to hastily wipe the tears from her eyes, floods of disappointment running through her system. She let them down, she knew it.

Sasuke glared angrily at where Kakashi disappeared to. How could this happen? He sighed, rolling his eyes as he bent to collect the items he dropped on the ground. The flowers, although slightly droopy from lack of water, were perfectly fine. He looked from the flowers to Hinata and back, a though occurring to him. If it had been anyone else, he would have permanently ignored her. But the way she looked so… disappointed in herself, and worried more about them than herself… well…

Sasuke grabbed the flowers off the ground and moved to where Hinata had dropped in the dirt, hands rubbing at her eyes. Naruto was standing not too far away, his expression a mixture of disbelief and guilt.

Trying not to look like someone who cared, Sasuke dropped the flowers in front of the crying girl, and took a few steps back.

"Crying is a sign of weakness; you shouldn't cry." Was all he said; and while they were harsh words, Hinata still nodded in agreement, picking the flowers up and clutching them to her chest; crushing the flowers against her jacket.

Sasuke's words seemed to snap Naruto out of his trance, and he flashed his teammate a deathful glare.

'_Crying does not make her weak! It shows that she actually has feelings, you prick.' _Naruto signed, and Sasuke only just managed to see the movement from the corner of his eyes. He snorted in reaction, crossed his arms over his chest and promptly ignored him.

Naruto walked over to Hinata, crouching next to her.

'_Where's the scroll?_' he signed to her, making each movement easy for her to follow. With shaky hand, she pulled out the scroll from her pocket. With two hands, Naruto grabbed the scroll from her hand. His hands lingered on hers, which caused a blush to rise against her cheeks despite her tears.

Naruto grabbed his own scroll, and swapped his with hers.

'_There. You can stay, I'll go back to the academy_.' Naruto signed, releasing her hands. Going back to the academy was the last thing he wanted, but if Kakashi had to change the damn tasks because of his lack of hearing… well, maybe he wasn't cut out for this sort of thing just yet. Hinata's eyes widened.

"N-no! You w-wanted this f-for so l-long! I w-won't let you g-give it up b-b-because of m-me!"

Naruto shook his head.

'_It doesn't matter_.' He lied, and judging by her expression, she knew. '_The scroll is mine now; Kakashi-sensei will just have to deal with it_.'

A dark shadow surrounded the two, making them jump. They both shrunk back at the sight of Kakashi, who looked absolutely murderous.

'_Will I now?_' He had a wild look in his eyes; even Sasuke seemed shocked. 'I don't take rule breakers well, Naruto. I should send you all back, just for that.'

'_I have the scroll; there's no proof that it was Hinata was the one to take it in the first place!_' Naruto stood his ground, standing to look Kakashi straight in the eye.

'_Send me back, and let the others through!_' Naruto's hands were a flurry of anger, his words reflecting his emotions. Sasuke moved forward, one hands moving up to be placed on Naruto's shoulder, pulling him back.

"The least you can do, is take five points off of both of us, and give them to her. That makes the scores even at 450. That way, no one has the most points, and no one has the least." Sasuke spoke with such clarity and calmness, it made Hinata feel slightly calmer. Kakashi rose an eyebrow. While Naruto hadn't been able to hear, or read, the words, he understood the words had some form of effect on their sensei.

"You'd do that, then? Give up something of your own, just for her to stay here?" Kakashi spoke the words to the raven-haired Genin, but signed the same words to the blonde.

"That's what teammates are for, isn't it? We help each other when we need it." Naruto spoke, words strong and clear. Hinata felt like crying again, but not for the same reasons. These two would still want her around, despite this?

Kakashi straightened his back, giving them all a firm look. Before his eye lit up and he clapped his hands.

"Well done. You've all passed." At their confused looks, he elaborated, hands moving fluidly. "What I mean is, this test was never about getting the points. It was about helping each other so that everyone could pass. Just because you had different items, did not mean you couldn't help each other to get them. I did say that the person with the lowest points would go home; but as Sasuke said, if all of you had the same points, then not one of you would technically have the lowest points. Team work is the most important value in any team or person. It's not about who can achieve the best, or who does it the quickest, or whatever. It's about helping each other. I'm glad you both figured it out."

Hinata jumped up, hugging her two teammates, "Thank you! T-Thank you!" she cried out, hugging them both tightly around the necks. After about point five seconds, she realised just what she had done. Face flushing a dangerous red, she opened her mouth; and promptly fainted. The two boys fought a blush at the action, both moving to catch their teammate.

Kakashi smiled fondly while the two boys fussed (both denying it later, of course).

At least things would never be boring. Kakashi watched after them, hoping that they'd remember this. He didn't want them making the same mistakes he did.

~ ҉ ~

**So…. Yeah. I last updated this on the 18****th**** of august… and that was… ages ago. I. Am. So. Sorry. Honestly, I can't express how much I'm sorry. Now, I've had highly stressful assignments due for school, a week of hard-core exams, and then just a bunch of other issues that have left me unable to write. But now I have managed to get rid of several of the issues, so hopefully I'll be able to get back on track and finish this fic.**

**Story wise, I'm hoping for about 10-15 chapters. I'm not planning on going past the bridge fight (With Zabuza and Haku), but I may write a sequel which goes up to the chuunin exams, on a later date (since my sister practically demands it). I've got ideas for a new fic after this one, but I will not be posting unless I have a finished fic, or one that actually has pre-written chapters.**

**Oh, and I'll be changing updating days to Sunday, instead of Saturdays.**

**Again, I'm sorry that I haven't updated. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Until next time – **

**Urufu.**


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